Sarah Burris is a long-time veteran of political campaigns, having worked as a fundraiser and media director across the United States. She transitioned into reporting while working for Rock the Vote, Future Majority and Wiretap Magazine, covering the Millennial Generation's perspective during the presidential elections. As a political writer, Burris has had bylines at CNN, Salon.com, BNR, and AlterNet and serves as a senior digital editor for RawStory.com.
A new recording of former President Donald Trump reveals the ex-president slipping in a conversation and destroying his own lie.
The new book "Apprentice in Wonderland" by Ramin Setoodeh tells some of the stories of the conversations with Trump, but the author has now given tapes to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace.
Speaking with her on Thursday, Setoodeh revealed that the conversation was part of one about Trump's falling out with Fox host Geraldo Rivera, who was once close with the former president.
"He was good. He did a good job. He was smart, cunning. He did a good job," said Trump.
"And are you guys still close or...?" the author asks.
"No, I don't think so. He is -uh - after I lost the election, I won the election, but when they said we lost, he called me up three or four times," Trump said. "I didn't take his call because I was so busy fighting it, you know, with what went on. And we've caught them, I don't know if you've seen it, but you will. But he called me up three or four times, and finally, I had a little time. I called him back. And he went on Fox and he started talking about, 'the president called me.' I didn't call him."
"I returned his phone call," said Trump. "And he started talking very personally about how I was feeling, how I was doing. And I said, that's really a betrayal. I didn't talk about how I was feeling. It just was a phone call that lasted very quickly. Just, 'Hey, how you doing, Gerlando? How's it going?'"
"It's not my deal — he's not my psychiatrist," said Trump. "But he made it sound like it was such a big deal. It was nothing. All I did was return his call, but he said, 'The president called me,' like I was reaching out to him. And I haven't spoken to him since."
The comments were in August 2021, the author said, and Trump was "comfortable" and happy because they were watching clips of "The Apprentice."
Interviewing the show's contestants, Setoodeh said that they all agreed that Trump was nothing more than an actor playing a role. As the aggrieved ex-president, he's playing another role, and lying about the election is part of that.
